It’s always exciting visiting a new country. Cliche, I know, but I really appreciate getting even a tourist’s look at how different cultures operate. While we did visit nine years ago (and climb Mt. Fuji!), going to Japan for our ten year anniversary felt like seeing a new country with new eyes again. Like any country, I noticed some random things that may only be of interest to me (I last did this for Hong Kong). They’re sort of things you need to know about Japan, but also just sort of random.

But I think some of these observations might be helpful to anyone visiting Japan and I can’t think a better place to start recapping my trip. Since these are random observations, this by no means is meant to be a definitive guide to Japan or anything like that. I just enjoy writing/thinking about these kinds of things.

So here goes!

Taxis are expensive

For one reason or another, taxis in Japan are very expensive. (I think it has to do with the fact that gas is so expensive, as I found out when it cost me like $10 for a gallon on my rental car!) So if you like taking cabs from place to place, be prepared to pay a premium. According to this site fares can run $4-$7 for the first 2 km (a little over a mile) and then about another $1 for every 300-400m after that. Expect fares to increase late at night and at peak times as well. That means a taxi ride from Narita airport can cost up to $200!

It’s much better to take public transportation, especially because Japan’s public transportation is super efficient. Which brings me to my next point.

Japan feels very organized and logical

Japan seems to be structured and organized in a way the just clicks with my particular brain. Everything seemed hyper efficient when I visited. Trains run on time, planes load and push back very quickly, and people queue in an orderly but productive fashion. It all just hums. Everything seems to be designed to move as smoothly as possible. The airport is a prime example of this. At Chitose Airport in Hokkaido signs advertised that you only needed to go through security twenty minutes before boarding. They know their system is that efficient.

Japan’s organization also makes things easier for visitors. Subway stations are named, but they also are abbreviated. So the Ginza Line, which has 16 stops, abbreviates its stops G1-16. Very useful when asking for directions or feeling lost.

But since everything has an internal logic, Japan handles rules differently than we may be used to in the United States.

Expect even rules that might feel trivial to be enforced

While I generally appreciated Japan’s internal logic, the Japanese adherence to rules did run a bit contrary to my general mindset. In the States, I’m used to rules being a bit more of a guideline. Example – I don’t expect to use my luggage tags unless I’ve actually lost my luggage. We didn’t check bags on our flights so I can’t speak to that, but our bus drivers made sure to collect our luggage tags even after a 20 minute drive.

We ran into this adherence to rules again on our shuttle back from Tokyo DisneySea. We arrived at the bus stop about five minutes early; at that time we checked in and I was asked to spell my last name. Note this was a very quiet bus stop and we were one of two or three families waiting in line. Five minutes later, the bus pulled up and the nice attendant who had been standing next to me the entire five minutes we waited asked me to spell my name again. She was very polite about it, but Japan follows protocol pretty closely. So if you’re Amy Santiago, you’ll love Japan!

I’d say there was only one rule that stressed me out a bit, which is probably one of the random things that surprised me the most.

Japan separates their trash into burnable and non-burnable 

If you’re not a stickler for protocol, you might not want to move to Japan – especially when it comes to sorting your trash. As a visitor, I immediately noticed a distinct scarcity of garbage cans compared to what I’m normally used to in urban US cities. Furthermore, on day 2 I realized that Japan sorts their public trash into burnable and non-burnable. This immediately caused me stress (not an exaggeration). I felt bad for non-burnable stuff I had put into the wrong bin on day 1 and I started being unsure of what was considered burnable or not!

I know that seems silly, but as a visitor I wanted to do my best to respect the systems in place. Eventually I think I mostly figured it out (and I’m almost certain someone sorts the trash by hand before it reaches its final destination). Still, the burnable trash thing was an interesting quirk about Japan and something to bear in mind – don’t just go dumping your trash into any random bin! 

I will say this, whatever Japan is doing definitely works – it might just be perception but the country and especially the cities Sapporo and Tokyo definitely felt cleaner on average than what I’m used to. 

Many signs are in English and it helps to read a little Chinese

If you’re visiting Japan, one thing you don’t need to worry too much about is finding signs in English. While I’ve noticed that the Japanese don’t speak English as well as you might expect in Europe (why would they?), almost all signs are written in English. This includes road signs which was pretty helpful since we rented a car in Hokkaido (drive on the left, btw). So if you’re touring on your own you should be able to figure out where to go just by reading English – even if it spelling might be a little bit off.

For those of you who can read some Chinese, that helps too. Instead of writing out each syllable in their words all the time (similar to English), sometimes things will be written as a single Chinese character (“Kanji”). From Quora:

One could turn a word like＂スーパー＂(Super) into 超, which is the case the (sic) popular Japanese show, “ドラゴン・ボール” (Dragon Ball) or also known as 竜珠 or 龍珠.

So if you can read some Chinese, you’ll have an even better idea of what’s going on because on signs often use Kanji. This came in very handy the one time I wasn’t sure how to flush a toilet (I’m surprised it only happened once). I noticed that one button said “小” (small) and one button said “大” (big) – so I figured it out. But overall, even with just English, don’t be too worried about reading signs.

The Japanese are an incredibly hospitable people

And even when reading signs fail, the Japanese are an incredibly hospitable bunch. I joked with my wife it’s like they’re all Disney cast members – the best ones. I found Japan to be one of the friendliest, most polite, and most helpful places I’ve ever visited. Even if people don’t speak English, they’ll do their best to help you. You can read about the concept that fuels this, omotenashi. 

I think part of what makes visiting Japan so wonderful is this amazing hospitality. We never once walked to our hotel room alone, at all three places we stayed at we were escorted. Everyone did their best to help us when we were confused. And even though we were thousands of miles away from home, the majority of the people we met made us feel welcome which went a long way.

Final Thoughts

If you’re planning on visiting Japan, hopefully my random observations have given you a little bit of an idea of what to expect. None of them are earth shattering (well, maybe the trash thing). I think of all of them very fondly. We loved our trip to Japan and are already plotting to go back – with our kids this time. And if you aren’t planning on visiting Japan, might I suggest you consider it?

Have you ever been to Japan? I was only there for a week, so if you have any observations or things you’d like to share I’d love to hear them in the comments! Expect more coverage on our trip in the weeks to come.

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If you have been listening to the Saverocity Observation Deck miles, points, and travel podcast, you know towards the end of 2018 we did a fun segment. The segment was titled “tell Joe where to take his wife for their 10 year anniversary” and I am really thankful for all the ideas our guests shared. I thought I’d put together all the ideas in case anybody is looking for ideas for upcoming trips. I’ve listed the ideas in order of guest appearance and included relevant links when applicable.

Before we get started, I gave our guests certain parameters they had to follow. I asked them to suggest a destination that we could get to on a direct flight of less than eight hours and somewhere where we wouldn’t spend more than 4 or 5 days. This was due to babysitting constraints. Let’s take a look at everyone’s suggestions.

St. Kitts

(Joey Redmond)

Joey Redmond is a reseller who moved to Texas specifically for his reselling business. He swung by to chat about Costa Rica and traveling for big soccer games, but his recommendation was to stay at the Park Hyatt in St. Kitts. Robert Dwyer of Milenomics agrees that it’s a fantastic Park Hyatt complete with great dining options and accommodations. St. Kitts probably ranks towards the top of Caribbean islands I’m interested in visiting so this trip definitely is on my list. The biggest drawback is the need to connect when coming from Boston, which eats into the whole eight hour thing.

Hyatt Ziva/Zilara in Cancun or Cabo

(Noah from Money Metagame)

Something a lot of people suggested was finding an all inclusive and Noah from Money Metagame took some time out from his gap year to talk about how much they enjoyed Hyatt Ziva and Zilara properties. The idea of an all inclusive is definitely appealing, we’ve never been except for cruises. But not having to worry about how much to pay for food eases the mental load of vacation – even if it’s expensive up front you don’t need to worry about a lot of expenses during the trip. The Ziva and Zilara properties can be pretty great values as well, with some going as low as 20,000 points per night for double occupancy.

Florida Keys

(Rachel Berkey of Award Travel 101 and Miles to the Magic)

Rachel Berkey, a moderator of Award Travel 101 and co-writer with me at Miles to the Magic had a more modest suggestion – driving through the Florida Keys. Due to time constraints and babysitting constraints like ours, she and her husband took a trip through the Keys and really enjoyed the warm Florida sun and beaches. I do enjoy long drives and the Keys look beautiful and there’s also the added benefit of it probably being cheaper than going to, say, Europe.

Paris

(Robert Dwyer of Milenomics and Miles to the Magic)

Robert Dwyer of Milenomics and my other partner in crime at Miles to the Magic took the exact opposite tact of Rachel – opulence! He suggested that we stay at the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome, hotel of much controversy. 🙂 His reasoning was if you’re celebrating your ten year anniversary you want to go all out and enjoy yourself, which I definitely buy. Paris is one of our favorite cities so I think it’s tough to go wrong if you’re celebrating something there.

Montreal & Quebec City

(Spencer Howard of God Save the Points)

Coming back to continental North America, Spencer Howard of God Save the Points and the best award alert e-mail list going floated the idea of visiting the Paris of the Americas, Quebec. He suggested a drive up to Montreal and Quebec city, which, to be honest, have been on our list of places to visit. He made the area sound positively charming, so for a more relaxed and not as far version of Europe, sounds like you can’t go wrong with Quebec.

Mainz

(Trevor of Tagging Miles and Saverocity Observation Deck podcast)

Trevor of Tagging Miles and the Saverocity Observation Deck podcast has long discussed his love of the Christmas markets in Germany so I wasn’t surprised when he suggested his favorite, Mainz, for our anniversary. Christmas markets look like they should be on every traveler’s bucket list, they are picturesque and beautiful. I also loved the idea of visiting a less popular city like Mainz.

Belize

(Jeff Brownson of Upgraded Points)

Jeff Brownson of Upgraded Points had one of the most fascinating recommendations: Belize. According to Jeff, whatever you’ve looking for, they’ve got it. Beach? Check. Sports? Check. Beautiful nature? Check. Cities? Check. But his most fascinating recommendation was a cave tour that sounds like something straight out of an Indiana Jones movie, the Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) tour. It sounded so great for kids I think we might wait until ours are old enough for this one.

Ireland

(Richard Kerr of Award Travel 101)

Last but not least, Richard Kerr from Award Travel 101 suggested Ireland, a country we love and haven’t visited since our very first babymoon. Ireland is a beautiful country with an amazing green landscape and dramatic weather that adds to the magic. We highly recommend renting a car and visiting the Dingle Peninsula along with all the other sites Ireland has to offer.

Final Thoughts

Although we’ve been to some of these destinations, there still remain some we need to check off their list. Obviously a brief roundup post like this doesn’t do the destinations justice. If you’re interested in any of them, I highly suggest you hit these wonderful folks up on Twitter (listed below) or check out the podcast episodes. I’m also happy to answer questions for the places I’ve been.

So, where did we end up booking for our ten year anniversary trip? Well, let’s just say I took all these wonderful ideas that were formulated based on the “rules” of a five day trip and a less than eight hour flight and completely ignored my own stipulations. But that’s a story for another time.

Twitter Handles: Joey Redmond, Noah of Money Metagame, Rachel Berkey, Robert Dwyer, Spencer Howard, Trevor of Tagging Miles, Jeff Brownson, and Richard Kerr

Never miss a post! Subscribe below and receive an e-mail once a day for new posts from asthejoeflies. Also, follow our family adventures on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Or, if you’re looking for a miles, points, and travel podcast, check out my podcast the Saverocity Observation Deck on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or this Patreon page! 

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